A Little Fantasy
by Clouded-Days
Summary: AUish. When Ryou's life once more falls apart on Christmas Eve, let down once more by his father's promises of coming home, the only one left as a form of comfort is Bakura. Can the man possibly make this holiday special for the child? COMPLETE.


A/N: ...Ugh. I like the beginning of this, but then it just gets so crappy I can barely stand it. I had this planned out originally, but then everything fell apart, and I lost all inspiration... In the beginning of this story I actually still had some, but then I lost it, because now I'm sick, it's that 'time', and my cat _died_. So yeah. My holiday hasn't been that cheery. So I'm sorry if this seems like total crap; I tried my best.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

* * *

Bakura was mute as he stood motionless in the doorway of the living room, unseen. His thin, yet muscled arms were folded across his chest as he surveyed the little form of a child from underneath his spiky bangs.

The boy sat huddled before the tiny, fake tree propped up in one corner, which was bare of ornaments and any other decorations, other than a little lone angel placed at the top of the pathetic looking object.

He had been sitting like that for nearly half an hour now, ever since the phone call. He sat huddled before the naked little tree, clutching a picture frame to his chest the entire time. It was Christmas Eve now, two days later, and Bakura didn't like to see the child so upset…

"What are you crying about?" Bakura questioned as he pushed himself away from the doorframe.

The child jumped at Bakura's voice, turning his head to stare at the demon, who was stalking across the living room at this point, towards him. "…I-I…"

Bakura, silent again, took a seat next to the still crying child on the floor, choosing to sit cross-legged. He stared at the pathetic little tree for a long moment, before letting out a small sigh. He knew the only one who could've called and made the child cry had to be his father. "…I told you he wasn't going to show up, didn't I, Ryou? I don't even see why you bother worrying about that _pathetic _excuse for a-"

"Don't talk about him like that!" The child nearly screamed, and his hands tightened upon the picture frame as he yelled, Bakura noticed. "Don't… He's still-"

"He's still your family," Bakura finished, having to deal with this conversation nearly a million times by this point. "But listen, kid, you have better things to do than to mope around about some careless man when you could be doing something productive-"

"Like what?" Ryou growled, arms tight around the silver picture frame he held close to his chest.

"…Well… The tree still isn't decorated," Bakura said softly at the boy's side, his crimson eyes raising to the tiny little tree, which didn't even reach the demon's waist in height.

Ryou sniffled a little, and finally lowered the picture frame from his chest. He gazed at it for a long moment, before whispering, "O-Okay."

Bakura smiled slightly, and reached out with a clawed hand. Ryou took it, and the pale spirit helped the child to his feet, before gingerly taking the framed photograph from the boy's hands. Gently, he pried the stand outwards, and set the object down on the dining room table. He didn't speak of the two women in the photograph – Ryou's beloved sister and his mother – or of the father figure lingering in the background. His actions spoke louder than words.

"…Come and help me get the decorations out, kid. I could use some help."

Ryou nodded mutely and followed the older of the two as he headed for the closet of the living room. Bakura wordlessly pried the door open and rummaged through a few bins, before getting out two boxes. He held gave the child the smaller of the two, and carried the larger one himself. He shut the closet door shut with his foot, and the two carried the boxes over to the tree, setting them down.

Ryou was already prying the box open by the time Bakura made it over. The child's small hands were gentle upon the glass ornaments as he placed them on the fake tree limbs, a tiny smile forming on his rounded face.

Bakura smiled, just slightly, before sitting down on the floor, and began to tear the box open.

* * *

"Bakura! Bakura, wake up!"

Bakura groaned as he rolled over, shrugging off the hand rapidly thrusting his shoulder around in harsh shakes. He kept his crimson eyes squeezed shut, however, not wanting to leave the calm, dark waves of sleep.

"Bakura!" The voice was louder. Bakura felt a harder force being applied to his shoulders and another hand was added, "Bakura, wake _up_!"

"What?" Bakura moaned as he finally cracked his tired, crimson eyes open. He glanced at the alarm clock that sat on the side table, to his right, and Bakura's body felt suddenly heavier as he stared at the red numbers. _Six-thirty?_

"Bakura, it's Christmas! Get up, get up!" There was now tugging; at his shirt sleeves, his hands, the bed sheets… "Come on!"

"I'm up, I'm up," Bakura murmured as he managed to sit upright, his body feeling much heavier than usual. He sleepily stared at Ryou, who was practically bouncing at his bedside.

"We gotta open presents," Ryou said, beaming as he tugged willingly at Bakura's hand.

"Yeah, I know," Bakura muttered sleepily as he managed to stand up. Ryou was clutching at his hand, trying to drag him out of the bedroom. "Calm down, kid. You're going to rip my arm off."

Ryou giggled at Bakura's words, and Bakura couldn't help but smile a little at this. _Apparently he's too excited to remember his 'father' isn't going to be here…_

Ryou dragged Bakura down the hall and into the living room, before letting go of the demon's hand and going over to the pathetic tree they had set up.

Bakura sighed to himself as he watched the child from the entranceway of the living room. Even with the money Ryou's father sent, the demon didn't have enough to but anything expensive. The demon could barely scrape the money together to pay the bills, let alone spend extra on other material possessions…

Bakura walked across the living room, before taking a seat at Ryou's side. The child had gingerly picked up the single present that had been sitting under the tree, holding the poorly wrapped box in his hands. The present Bakura had gotten him. The demon could only hope it was enough…

Bakura held his breath, mainly in fear, as Ryou peeled off the paper, and extracted a small, white box, tied with a big red ribbon. Ryou blinked in surprise as he managed to untie the band, and opened the package.

Bakura blinked in surprise when Ryou actually smiled. The child looked up at him, his beam growing wider, "Bakura, it's so pretty… Did you make it?"

"…Yeah." Bakura said softly, the two of them staring down at the piece of jewelry. It was silver, in the shape of a crescent moon, hanging from a thin chain. "It's a locket. Open it up."

Ryou blinked at this, and did so, managing to pry it open despite his chubby fingers. Then, his chocolate eyes grew wide.

A picture of Amane rested on the left side, and a photograph of his mother upon the right. Ryou's fingers went numb as he held it gingerly, unable to tear his eyes away, "B-Bakura…"

"Shh…" Bakura reached out, and accepted the shaking child into his arms. Ryou began to sniffle then, obviously trying not to cry. "I'm sorry, Ryou, I shouldn't have tried to-"

"N-No…" Ryou murmured into Bakura's collarbone, the gift held in his left hand. "I-It's perfect, Bakura. I… I just…"

Ryou pulled back, and smiled, his chocolate eyes glistening with tears, "T-Thank you so much."

Bakura sighed softly, and managed to smile back, "You're welcome, Ryou."

He grabbed the child in his arms, Ryou releasing a small giggle as Bakura pulled him into his lap. He pulled the necklace from the box, and moved the chain underneath Ryou's mane of snowy hair, fastening the makeshift silver chain about Ryou's neck as he attached the handmade necklace about the child's throat.

"Merry Christmas, Ryou."

* * *

THE END.

A/N: Ugh it's so horrible. And it's much too short. I'm so disappointed in myself. D: Anyway, I'm sorry... And if you _somehow _managed to enjoy this pathetic little thing, review, please?

Merry Christmas to you guys and a happy New Year!


End file.
